Pursuit of Happiness
by taydo-the-potato
Summary: Her happiness was him. And 720 days without him showed her that she wanted happiness again. With an overbearing father and a few weeks to make up, would Jazmine get back the happiness she once had? Nothing stands in the way of true love. Sequel to Not Just Friends!
1. Prologue

_**A/N: **Oh my God. Oh my freaking God. She just made her sequel to Not Just Friends. Is this the real life, or is this just fantasy? Yes, that's a Queen reference. Don't judge. Yes people, when I say I'll give you a sequel, by George, I'm gonna give it to you! Yes, it may be a little late, but it's still fan-fucking-tastic. I should be sleep right now, but because I love all of you oh so much, I'm presenting this to you. Don't forget to Read&Review!_

Prologue

Jazmine tapped her fingers on her knees as she sat in the seat in the auditorium. She tried to listen to the principal talk, but pretty soon she zoned her out after the old lady started talking about how wonderful Jazmine's class was. She honestly was tired of it all: the graduation, the ceremony, and the fact that the lady was making a sappy inspirational speech about how life was going to be different and perfect after high school.

Thirty minutes into the ceremony, Jazmine was bored out of her mind. Everyone around her was grasping onto every word the principal spoke. These girls were the future of America, the cream of the crop. So why did they think that the principal was saying something in her probably recycled speech they won't hear ten times in the next day alone? She sighed. They're probably delusional. Next onstage was the valedictorian, who pretty much made the same speech over again. She was just glad she didn't have to make the stupid speech, because she would just tell the audience that she hated pretty much everybody that was graduating today and everyone could go fuck themselves.

She groaned for what seemed like the thousandth time and threw her head back. She was just waiting on the ceremony to be over. All of her things from her dorm were packed into the boxes, waiting for her dad to take her and leave the hell she was forced to be in for two years. Well, she was being _slightly _overdramatic, but she couldn't wait to leave. Unfortunately, she had to bear with these girls for a couple of more hours.

The girl next to her, whose name Jazmine couldn't think of at the moment, turned around and waved at someone in the audience. She sank lower into her seat. No one was here for her, except her father. Sarah, because Jazmine refused to call her mom anymore, was God knows where, and the only person she really wanted to be here was still in Woodcrest, because he had his own graduation to attend.

She blew a curl out of her view as she stared forward. She folded her arms across her chest and huffed once again. The unnamed girl tapped her on the shoulder and pointed the across the walkway to where Tom was sitting. He was signaling something that Jazmine couldn't understand, so she rolled her eyes and ignored him.

"Aren't you excited?" the unnamed girl asked Jazmine. "I mean, this is the start of our new lives. We're not high schoolers anymore. We're finally _adults_. People are going to treat us differently."

Jazmine scoffed. "People aren't going to treat you differently just because you're finally out of high school. Anybody can graduate from high school. The people that work at McDonald's have a high school degree."

"Well… yeah…" the girl started, unsure of what to say next. "But… we're gonna be in college. I mean, it's so much different than high school. It's going to be _so_ much better."

She didn't feel like bursting the girl's bubble anymore; she was just making it too easy. Jazmine grunted in response and turned back forward. Her bitter attitude while others were cheerful were starting to clash. Huey was rubbing off on her more than she thought. She was better off being quiet and not ruining anybody's day.

The audience clapped when the valedictorian was finally finished and the principal took her place and started calling out names. Jazmine's row stood up first and walked toward the stage. Her senior class wasn't big at all; with about forty students getting their diplomas today and Jazmine was number eight. At least she didn't have to wait long. Huey had about 250 people in his graduating class.

"Dammit," she said as she almost tripped over her blue gown, which was longer than she expected, even though she was wearing heels. She had to grip onto the railing of the stairs to regain her balance again. She hoped and prayed that she didn't bust her ass when she went to get her diploma.

"Jazmine Dubois."

Just like she practiced at the rehearsal a couple of days ago, she got on the small stair steps and walked across the stage. Halfway there, she absentmindedly looked out into the audience. Her dad was smiling widely and what she assumed was him recording a video of her walk, so he could watch it over and over again. She rolled her eyes and smiled to herself. She'll at least get to show Huey her walk.

She smiled at her principal as she received her diploma just so her dad could have at least one nice picture of her onstage. Her hand gripped tightly on the certificate and she looked down at her watch. Only thirty more minutes to go and she was out of there. She wondered if Huey was having more fun at his own graduation. She laughed to herself. Probably not.

Huey groaned and threw his head back as he sat in the seat in the auditorium. He tried to listen to the principal talk, but pretty soon he zoned him out after he started talking about how wonderful this class was. He honestly was tired of it all: the graduation, the ceremony, and the fact that this guy was making a sappy inspirational speech about how life was going to be different and perfect after high school.

Thirty minutes into the ceremony, he was bored out of his mind. Everyone around him was on their phones or sleeping, not even paying attention to the principal anymore. This was the future of America. Next was the valedictorian, who pretty much made the same speech over again. He was just glad he didn't have to make the stupid speech, because he would just tell the audience about 50% of the kids would drop out of college before getting a degree and 90% of them would never amount to anything.

Caesar turned around in his seat and looked at Huey. "Hey Huey, do you believe the bullshit she's saying?" He asked him. Huey rolled his eyes and shook his head. Caesar shrugged. "At least she's given them hope, though."

"Hope is irrational," Huey replied bluntly. He never was the hopeful one; faith, hopes and wishes were just things people made up to distract him from the reality. He was the realistic person, always looking at statistics and logic, along with common sense. Jazmine was the hopeful one.

Caesar smirked. "Always a positive one, huh?" He jokingly said.

"As usual."

Caesar tapped on his phone. "You still having that graduation party? That's a shocker coming from you, Freeman."

Huey scowled. "Unfortunately, I am. Aunt Cookie is under the assumption that I actually have friends at this school," he explained. He watched as Caesar smirked while he played with his phone, earning an eyebrow raise. "You better not invite anybody."

"I'm not," Caesar answered unconvincingly.

"I'm serious. I don't want random niggas in my house."

Caesar put his phone in his pocket. "Huey. I'm not inviting random niggas." Huey already knew that Caesar had found a loophole when he said that. Great. He expected to see at least twenty people at his house.

The audience clapped when she was finally finished and the principal took her place and started calling out names. Caesar's row stood up first and walked toward the stage. Caesar smirked at Huey as he made his way to the back of the line. He watched one by one as his classmates got their diplomas. When Caesar's name was called, he gave the principal a big cheesy grin and dap as he walked off the stage.

He looked over at the audience, trying to find out where his family was sitting. Right in the middle, he could see Riley and Cindy, along with Brielle, sitting on the end of the row. He couldn't see anyone else, but he was pretty sure Granddad and Aunt Cookie were right next to them. Although he didn't really care about the actual ceremony, he was pretty glad his aunt came all the way from Chicago to see him walk.

"Dammit," he said as he almost tripped over his red gown, which was longer than he expected. He didn't even want to wear the stupid thing, but the principal said that if he didn't wear it, he couldn't walk and if he didn't walk Granddad was most likely going to beat his ass because he had to pay for Aunt Cookie's plane ticket, and that ass-whooping wasn't worth skipping his graduation.

There were only a couple more people in front of him, and he could tell that his family was getting antsy. They were building up, getting ready for Huey to take the final walk, the first of his Freeman generation to graduate from high school. He rolled his eyes; they were more excited about him graduating than he was.

Clarissa Faulkner was the person in front of him. When her name was called, she turned around and blew a kiss in Huey's direction. He rolled his eyes. She had been trying to talk to Huey since forever, and when Jazmine left, Clarissa tried to step her game up, almost kissing him at one point. The crazy bitch couldn't take a hint until he had to push her off of him. Even then, it only made her like him even more. At least he wouldn't have to see her crazy ass anymore after this.

"Huey Freeman."

Just like he practiced at the rehearsal a few days ago, he got on the stair steps and made his way across the stage. Halfway there, he glanced back over at his family. They were cheering louder than anyone did for anybody else. He could see his grandfather and aunt standing up next to Caesar's mom and sister, cheering and whistling.

He shook the hand of the principal and stood at the podium for the all the pictures people could be taking. The principal shook his head once more before Huey walked off and back to his seat. He read his diploma.

_This certifies that __**Huey Freeman**__ has completed all necessary blah, blah, blah._

He looked at his watch. Figuring that since he was in the front of the line, and they were only on letter H now, he had about two more hours before he could finally go home. He groaned and tilted his head back, closing his eyes. It was going to be a long day.

Jazmine tapped her foot on the tile of the lobby. She was already out of her graduation gown and was currently waiting on her father. She questioned if she could even see her father, considering the sea of people that was in front of her. For only a few people to be graduating, there sure were a lot of family members and such crammed into a small place. She blew a curl out of hair. Damn, where was her father?

"You changed out of your robe?" her father asked, when he finally spotted Jazmine by the door. "I wanted to take a couple of pictures of you up close…" she hated when her dad sounded dejected, especially if it was her fault.

"Daddy, you can take as many pictures as you want of me in my gown when we get home," Jazmine reassured him. "Right now, I just want to go home to my own room."

Tom sighed. "Listen, Jazmine. I know you're still holding some resentment from having to go to this boarding school, but… it's been two years. Aren't you just a little bit happy that you got to experience this? I mean, most girls don't have the privilege of going to this nice school."

To say she hated it here was an understatement. Loathed was a better word for it. She loathed every atom, every tiny minuscule fleck of dust on the campus. There was no point in the two years of her admission did she enjoy it here, except the times she went back home.

"This was a life-changing moment and I'm glad that I got to go to this school," she lied. Her dad seemed satisfied with her answer and enveloped her in a hug. "Are you going to bring the car near the dorms? Because I need to put the boxes in the back." Her dad didn't need to get distracted. They were on a mission.

Tom nodded and walked off. Jazmine headed back to the upperclassmen dorms and walked to room 113 for the last time. She unlocked the door and stepped into the room. Her boxes were stacked on her bed, along with her duffel bag.

She walked over to the mirror and looked at herself one last time in the smudged reflection. She played with her hair for the umpteenth time when she noticed something in the corner. She grabbed the picture and couldn't believe she almost left it. She smiled at Huey's baby picture. She remembered that she taped it up there when she first arrived in the dorm.

"And to think I almost forgot you," she said. She put the picture in her dress pocket and patted it. She swung the duffel bag over her shoulders and grabbed her boxes. She was walking out of the door when her roommate stopped her.

"Jazmine?" she questioned with huge puppy eyes. "Are you about to leave?"

Jazmine gulped hard. Elizabeth was her sophomore roommate since last year, due to a technicality. She practically taught her everything she knew. Elizabeth was the ten year old version of Jazmine, only Elizabeth was sixteen. She was too naïve for her age, _way_ too emotional, and was basically shut off from the world, like Jazmine. Jazmine was Elizabeth's big sister, and now she had to leave her little sister.

"Yeah, Lizzie. I gotta go back home," she explained to her, as if she was a five year old. She straightened Elizabeth's tie on her neck. She made sure she didn't show too much excitement in her voice, just not to offend Elizabeth. "You can still text or Skype me if you need help, alright?"

Elizabeth started to tear up. "I don't know how I'm gonna survive without you, Jazmine!" she bawled. "It's gonna be so hard!"

Jazmine sighed. Was she this annoying when she was younger? How did she still have friends? "Elizabeth, you knew that one day, I won't be able to be here physically with you. But if you remember everything I taught you, I'll always be with you, right there." She pointed at her heart.

_Wow, could that have been anymore cheesy? I sound like I'm about to die or something._

Nevertheless, Elizabeth ate it up, like the girly girl she was, and gave Jazmine a hug before she went to her dad's car. Elizabeth sniffed a few times, before solemnly waving goodbye and walking back to the dorms. The girl was dramatic, that's for sure. Jazmine shrugged and put the boxes in the back seat of the car.

She turned around and looked at her former school. She felt as if she should probably say something meaningful about how she truly felt about her two years here. She sighed.

"Fuck that," she muttered to herself as she walked to the passenger side of the car. Tom started up the car, and pulled out of the parking lot. Although she wasn't fully paying attention to her dad, he continued on about he went to a private school, and how much his education was significantly different than his public school friends.

Actually, Jazmine didn't learn anything educationally she didn't already know from public school. She only learned about sluts, fake girls, and cheating rings. She could've been higher in the class rankings if she wasn't so angry at being in a boarding school her first semester. It didn't matter in the end; she was going to be reunited with Huey and that's all that mattered.

And they were _definitely _going to reunite all night tonight.

She blushed at the thought of him and hoped that Tom didn't see her red tint. She usually didn't try to think about Huey like that, but _had _been two years. She missed seeing him every day, she missed that he would sometimes give her the smallest smile whenever she snuggle next to him, she missed the secret kisses he would give her, but most of all…

She just missed him.

They had been through a lot together. He was there through all of her bad times. He was there through all of the good times. He was always there, just like she would always be there for him, even if he claimed that he didn't need it. Even if he was being stubborn, she would be right behind him.

She yawned loudly. She only had about seven hours of sleep, and although that was enough for some people, Jazmine was used to about nine to ten hours of rest to properly function without snapping at people. She put in her earphones and quickly went to sleep, with dreams of her man playing through her head.

"Uncle Hooey!"

Brielle slapped his chest as hard as her little hand could. Huey opened his eyes and looked down at his niece. She smiled and waved at him. He smirked at the sight of her tiny smile. "What do you want, Brielle?" he asked, pushing the curls out of her face.

"Downstairs," she requested, pointing towards the balcony. He sighed and stretched up, letting his joints loosen up again. He picked Brielle up and balanced her on his hip. "Thank you!" she answered, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah, yeah," he responded, trying to balance Brielle in one hand and a baby gate in the other. When he reached the first floor, he sat Brielle down, who immediately ran off to find Riley or Cindy. He fixed the gate at the bottom of the stairs when he heard his name.

"Huey! There you are, sweetheart," Aunt Cookie said, emerging from the hallway. "Are you really wearing that for the party?" He looked down at his outfit. Before he could counteract, Aunt Cookie waved the question away. "Never mind, just… go and have fun at your party."

He turned to see people grouping in the living room. He was about to go back up the stairs, but was stopped by Aunt Cookie when she grabbed his arm. She gave him "the look" that he knew he had to stay.

And then in the course of twenty minutes, he already saw at least fifteen people he'd never seen before. Whoever told Aunt Cookie these people were his friends, they were sadly mistaken. Some of the people were in Riley's grade, some of them were definitely freshman, and the few he did know, he probably never gave them the time of day. And more people were coming through the door.

"Fucking Caesar."

Caesar had better hope that Huey didn't find him in this large crowd, because he definitely had a few choice words to say to his so-called "best friend" And what's even worse, is that he couldn't find his family anywhere. It seemed like Granddad, Riley and Cindy, and even Aunt Cookie, who he saw just mere minutes ago, were missing.

"Huey!" Caesar said, laughing. He wanted to lunge at him, but there were too many witnesses. "Look, I know yo ass don't like parties, but I only invited a couple people. Then somebody put it on Twitter…"

Huey rolled his eyes. "You idiot. Didn't I say I didn't want anybody at my house?"

"You said you didn't want random niggas!"

Huey sighed. "Sometimes I question our friendship," he admitted, shaking his head.

Caesar smirked and grabbed Huey, embracing him. "Nigga, you know you love me!" Caesar joked. He turned him around and showed him the entire living room, packed with people. "Enjoy this, Freeman. You a college boy now. This is gonna be normal."

"Yay," he answered sarcastically. He shoved Caesar off of him and checked his pockets for his phone. "I'll be right back."

"Whatever!"

Huey tried to make his way through the hallway, successfully forcing a walkable path. When he finally got to the front, thinking about locking the door so more people won't come in. He also noticed that not only did the baby gate keep out Brielle; it also kept out dumbass teenagers. Who knew? He was about to make his way to his room when he heard the doorbell ring. He raised an eyebrow. Usually people just entered. Apparently the person got the message, because the door opened. His eyes widened when he saw the person.

_Jazmine_.


	2. A Needed Reunion

_**A/N: **[Insert a really stupid excuse on why this is waay late, even though it's extremely legitimate.] I had a real excuse, but right now it's almost 3 am and basically I said fuck all because what it was and just wanted to post the chapter. I'm gonna do better, I promise._

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_**Review Responses! (Yes, I'm gonna do this from now on.)**_

_**Ichigo1305: Thank you! and I love you too! :3 yes, the update soon was a little sketchy, but I updated though!**_

_**Schweetpea1870: Oh yeah! I'm back! Woot Woot! Lol right? TF is wrong with him keeping true love away from each other? **_  
_**SMH. Yes, I tried to make the part with Jaz and Elizabeth a fake kind of serious moment. Does that even make sense? Probably not. It's really late. **_  
_**I LOVE CAESAR AND HUEY'S RELATIONSHIP AGH. I wished that when I wrote Not Just Friends that I was more aware of him, because he would of been GREAT during that whole thing. AH WELL. **_  
_**lol yes, I'm back, but where are you, missy? Get on that grind, girl! Thanks bae for reviewing!**_

_**Guest: YES. I'm gonna write as many cheesy Jazmine and Huey moments as possible. It makes my heart warm. No, but it will take me a long time to get to it because I'm in the beginning of this story, so I'm getting all the details in it to fully understand everything and it will therefore take me longer to write a chapter for this than for Heaven or Las Vegas. Thanks for the review!**_

_**Jazavelli: woooo review from one of my fav peeps! ;D I'm doing the New Story Dance in my bed right now! lol Thanks for reviewing, hun!**_

_** joice .xoxboubou .xox: (Literally it wouldn't save your name unless it was like that. -_- sorry it looks weird.) Hey you're back! woot woot! lol yes a sequel finally! **_  
_**Yep, that shit was legit. :/ Tom wasn't fucking around! lol! Well, I would think that boarding school would be waaaaaay better than public school, thanks to Zoey 101 for me too lol, but I guess if you're forced to leave bae then that's not fun. #welp. **_  
_**lol YES. Huey rubbed off on her. Jazzy was extra-salty about boarding school. **_  
_**Of course, same old Huey. Who else? lol**_  
_**Clarissa SHOULD'VE disappeared, but she made a quick appearance!**_  
_**Yay! Reunited and it feels so gooooooooood!**_  
_**Thank you and thanks for the review!**_

_**BoondocksFever234: I hope it lives up to your expectations! This is who I write for: you guys! True love always prospers, right? lol thanks for the review!**_

_**Aye wassuh: Yeah it's a new story! :D Thanks for reviewing!**_

_**Anonymous: I'm updating now! I'm glad you like Not Just Friends and I hope this satisfies you! lol thanks for reviewing!**_

_**e-beezy96: Well, you don't have to wait, nigga.**_

_**mhdevilena1: Thank you so much! I hope you love this too!**_

_**evilpixie323: AWW thank you! I'm really trying to more!**_

_**BananaMilkshake97: Thank you! Hopefully this chappy is awesome as well! :D**_

_**thatgirlbre: I am gonna continue this story! Yes, it brings up the age-old question: How much do people change after something like that? and yes, CAESARRRRRRRR. Thanks for the review!**_

_**DomesticTerrorist: Whoa I hope this chapter fills your needs! lol! Thanks and I hope you do like this story, too! Yeah, I really like that line, too! Funny story, when I wrote that, I thought it was dumb because literally you could just MOVE it out the way, but at the place I babysit they have baby gates that are screwed into the openings of the stairs and they have doors that swing open and them hoes are extra hard to get through and the father had to help me a couple of times, so yes baby gates LITERALLY keep teenagers out. lol**_

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_**A/N:** Okay, so I really don't know if I did those review responses right, but it seems legit, soooo... ANYWHO enjoy the chapter and don't forget to Read&Review!_

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Chapter Two: A Needed Reunion

"Hey."

It was the only thing she could think of saying. He stared at her as if she was a total stranger, but didn't know how he should react. Her bright emerald eyes looked at his maroon eyes, significantly lighter than when he first saw her. It was all coming back to him.

"Hey."

A small smirk appeared on her face. He climbed back over the baby gate and moved closer to her. He looked her up and down, studying her, noticing every detail that seemed different than the last time she was in town. He was now close enough to push a few curls behind her ear, causing Jazmine to lick her lips.

Huey was about to say something, but was interrupted by a high pitched scream.

They both turned just in time to see Jazmine getting tackled by a squealing Cindy, almost tumbling to the floor. "Jazzy Fresh!" she grinned. She finally let go and punched Jazmine in her arm. Jazmine forgot how strong Cindy was. "Bout time yo ass came back."

"Thanks, Cin," she answered. She rubbed her arm where she knew a bruise would form by tonight. "Where's everyone else?" she asked. She was excited to see everyone, including little Brielle and the infamous Caesar that Huey talked about a lot.

"Well, Riley and Granddad took Brielle to the park while the party was going on," she answered. "And everybody else is in the living room," She moved her body towards the party. "Do you wanna go and say hi to people?"

"Um," she started. She looked over at Huey, awaiting his response. He still stood next to her, still processing that Jazmine was actually here. "I guess!" she finished happily. Cindy tugged on her arm, leading her down the hallway. She turned to Huey, who simply followed a few steps behind the girls.

"Damn, nigga! Move out the way!" Cindy snapped, pushing through the crowd. They stopped in a corner of the room that wasn't occupied with many people. She stood on her balls of her feet and scanned over people's heads. When she saw who she was looking for, she yelled at them. "You! Yeah, nigga! Come over here!" She sighed and walked over to him.

Jazmine rolled her eyes. She missed how blunt Cindy was. "What's wrong with you?" she questioned Huey, who seemed like he didn't want to be there. "Mad you have to share?"

The smallest smirk appeared on his face. It was the most reaction she got from him yet. "I'll get you all to myself eventually," he whispered smoothly into her ear. Jazmine reddened and bit her lip at his response. He still made her blush.

"Oh my God, Jazmine?" She turned to see Tia with her arms opened towards her. Jazmine squealed and ran to her. Both girls giggled and hopped up and down. "Holy shit when did you back?" Tia questioned. Jazmine shrugged. "Girl, let me tell you, after you left, I had to deal with Kenya's crazy ass all by myself. I wanted to shoot myself."

Jazmine pouted. "I'm sorry, but I'll do you one better: none of the girls in my choir could sing." She shivered just thinking about it.

Tia smirked before she smiled at Huey. "Hey Huey," she said, waving.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Where's your boyfriend?" he asked simply.

"Hi, Tia. Nice to see you too," she remarked. "Why can't you ever respond with that?"

"Where's your boyfriend?" repeated Huey.

Tia scowled. "I don't know; somewhere in a sea of all these niggas." She turned back to Jazmine. "Girl, I don't what you see in him. He's a jerk to me."

Jazmine pouted again. "Aww, he's such a sweetheart," she defended.

"Uh-huh, sure," Tia said sarcastically. She took a quick picture of Jazmine before glancing at the crowd. "I'm gonna go look for Michael. Don't y'all go nowhere, alright?" she told her.

Huey grabbed her hand soon after Tia left and led her though the crowd towards the hallway. "Where are we going?" she wondered out loud, hopefully loud enough for Huey to hear.

He sighed. "Upstairs. To talk," he explained when they stepped onto the stairs. Jazmine smirked and followed Huey. At the top, he stepped aside, to let her walk in front of him. She smiled to herself because she could practically feel him watching her walk to his room. Huey grabbed her arm and twirled her around when she entered his room, instantly catching her lips.

And then she was in that familiar place: pushed up against his door, with her leg bent at the side of his waist, and his hand roaming up her thigh. He wasted no time, and although she was surprised at the sudden action, she didn't care at all; it was a nice place to be.

"When were you going to tell someone you came back?" he breathed as he finally broke away from her. He sent tiny kisses down her jawline and eventually made his way to her neck.

She tilted her head up and closed her eyes. "I was _going_ to tell you," she started. She enjoyed his affection until she cupped his face and looked him in his eyes. "But the surprise is much better." She grabbed his collar, pulling him back to her lips.

The kiss was two years in the making. Jazmine rarely visited from school and if she was in town, Tom kept her on serious lockdown. Texts and Skype wasn't the same as being in person, in his room, in each other's bubbles. His slender fingers made small circular patterns on her thigh while her hand stayed in the back of his Afro; their lips never disconnected. This was their time.

He put his hands under her ass and lifted her up, which made Jazmine automatically wrap her legs around his waist. He sat her down in the middle of his bed and positioned himself between her.

She rubbed her thumb across his cheek. "When's the last time you shaved?" she questioned absent-mindedly. He shrugged in response. "You're scruffy. I just noticed that," she added, still running her fingers on his face.

"Really?" he answered. "You just noticed that?"

She added her fingernails as she made patterns in his stubble. "It kinda feels like… a Brillo pad or something," she continued.

He pulled away from her hands quickly and rolled over to the side of the bed next to her. "Alright. The moment is ruined," he announced, resting on his elbows.

"No!" she giggled. She jumped into his lap. "I was just kidding!" She tried to scratch through his cheek again, but he slapped her hand away. She kissed his cheek and placed her head in the crook of his neck. "I like your Brillo pad stubble," she giggled again into his neck.

"You've only been here for thirty minutes and you're already making fun of me," Huey said. He sat up to support himself on his hands. She leaned in closer until their mouths were no more than an inch away from each other. Then she planted her lips onto his before he could give a reaction.

"Did you miss me?" she questioned breathily when she finally pulled away from him. She rested her forehead against his and running her fingers across his cheek.

"That's a stupid question."

She pouted slightly when she looked at him. "It's not a stupid question," she mumbled.

"It is when you know the answer to it," he answered nonchalantly. She giggled and threw her arms around his neck. Huey almost fell back onto the bed, but he steadied himself quickly.

Jazmine started kissing down his neck. She kept her lips on his neck, taking in his scent. Irish Spring and Old Spice. She smirked at the familiar blend. She connected their lips once again and one of Jazmine's hands made their way under his shirt and on his chest. He sat up straighter and placed his hands on her waist.

The door swung open, startling Jazmine. Granted, she was in a compromising position straddling Huey. Her cheeks warmed and flooded with a deep red. _Oh God, please no,_ she thought over and over again. She wished that she could disintegrate into a trillion tiny pieces and practically disappear into the floor.

But no, her luck was nonexistent, and there they were, in his room, all alone, with her sitting on top of him, being caught by none other than Ms. Cookie Freeman.

"Shit," he muttered.

Aunt Cookie looked at both of the teenagers and gave an audible grunt of disapproval.

Huey shifted Jazmine off of him before looking back at his aunt. "Look, Aunt Cookie, it's not what it looks like," he tried to explain, but he had no way to finish the thought. Jazmine, on the other hand, was mortified and couldn't even speak.

Aunt Cookie stomped over to the bed and pulled Huey by his arm away from Jazmine. He tried to protest, but Aunt Cookie just yanked him harder out of the room.

After she heard the door slam, Jazmine took this opportunity to leave as fast as possible. She straightened the skirt of her dress and scurried out of the room. She ignored the yelling coming from Mr. Freeman's room and continued down the stairs. She let out a sigh of relief when she noticed there weren't many people left at the party. She could hopefully slip out before someone would notice.

"Yo Jazzy!" Cindy called after her before Jazmine could run out the door. She was 0-2 on this luck thing. "You leaving already?" Jazmine nodded while keeping her hand on the doorknob. Cindy noticed the rosy tint that covered her cheeks. "Damn, what happened to you?"

Jazmine looked around her to see if anyone could be eavesdropping on the conversation. She moved Cindy closer to the dining room. "She came in," she whispered as low as possible. "While we were… y'know, fooling around."

"Wait, who?" Cindy asked confused. Jazmine rolled her eyes. She watched as Cindy started to put pieces together in her head. "Oh!" she finally concluded. "Y'all weren't like, naked or some shit, right?"

"God, no," Jazmine immediately replied, shuddering at thought. "Still! She didn't even knock or anything. I could've got in the closet or something." She folded her arms across her chest. A small smirk appeared on her face. "The first time she meets me and I'm on top of her nephew," she laughed.

"A plus first impression, Jaz, really." Just then, Aunt Cookie walked down the stairs and made her way out of the front door, but not before looking Jazmine up and down as she passed the two girls. "Did she just…?" Cindy started.

"She gave me that judgmental look!" Jazmine finished. She slapped her face. "Oh my God, she totally hates me."

Cindy patted her on the back before returning to the party. "Join the club."

Emerald irises locked onto Huey coming downstairs. "You didn't lock the door," she said. He scowled when he approached her. "I'm just saying! She judged me when she walked through here." She buried herself into his shoulder. "I don't think she likes me."

"She wants to meet you," he sighed. "Formally."

She whipped her head up to look at him. "What?" she squeaked out. "Why? Why does she want to meet me?"

"Maybe she wants to meet the girl I'm fucking?"

"Did you tell her that?!" she yelled. Her pitch was getting was starting to get higher, along with her anxiety level. She needed a paper bag to breathe into. "What the fuck, Huey? I'm not prepared for this!"

He gently grabbed her hand and stroked the back of her palm with his thumb. "Calm down, Jazmine; you'll be fine, alright?" he softly told her. His touch soothed her quickly. "By the way, she wants to meet you at dinner tonight."

"_What_?" she fumed. He ignored her and led her down the hallway to the living room, where the party was dying down. When people started to leave, the people that came up to them were mostly congratulating Huey, and a few people seemed to vaguely remember Jazmine, but for the most part she was ignored. It was fine with her; she was too busy trying to figure out how to make a better impression to Aunt Cookie.

She didn't know how to approach the situation; avoiding awkward confrontations was her specialty. She thought it would be best to not mention anything about what happened earlier. Maybe, if she was lucky, Aunt Cookie would forget all about it.

Because seeing your nephew under a girl is _obviously_ not worth mentioning and easily forgettable.

She ran her fingers through her curls. This was going to be harder than she thought. She replayed the events over and over in her head, thinking about what could've been done differently. Personally, she blamed Huey because he was the one who didn't lock the fuckingdoor.

"She's not mean," he offered. Jazmine scoffed. "Well, she's at least reasonable. Just be yourself." He glanced down at her. "And I mean the sweet, innocent you. Not the horny, sexual, always-on-top-of-me you. Save that for later," he smirked.

She laughed and turned away from him, hiding the crimson blush that finally disappeared from last time, which started once again to creep up on her face.

"Yo I know I'm sexy, but you don't have to look at me like that."

Jazmine could practically hear Huey's eye roll next to her. She grinned at the boy's response. "I'm Michael Caesar, but most people call me Caesar. Actually prefer it that way."

So this was the guy that Huey talked about. She only heard a few stories about him, but he still wasn't what she was expecting. She anticipated a clone of Huey, maybe without an Afro, that was as cold as him. Caesar seemed like a polar opposite.

"Hi!" Jazmine beamed. "I'm Jazmine."

"_Oh_," Caesar said, as if all the pieces started to come together. "So _you're_ the girl that has Huey sprung." He smirked at Huey. "Good job, man. You got lucky."

"Shut up."

Caesar turned back to Jazmine. "Yo, he couldn't _stop_ talking about you. It was always 'Jazmine this' and 'Jazmine that'. I'm pretty sure I know more about you than I do about Huey."

"Aww!" Jazmine cooed, enveloping Huey in a hug. "Huey missed me!"

"See, Ceez? This is why I don't tell you shit," Huey reminded him. "You can't keep your big ass mouth shut."

Caesar sucked his teeth. "What? Come on man. Name one time when I couldn't keep my mouth shut." Huey rolled his eyes and gestured to the party that wasn't supposed to be a party. "Alright, name another time."

"I can name five times," he retorted.

Jazmine huffed and sat down on the sofa. "Does this back and forth thing happen often between you too?" she questioned, pointing at both of them.

Tia flopped down on the couch next to Jazmine. "More or less," she interjected. She yanked one of the dreads on Caesar's head. "Michael doesn't realize he can't keep a secret."

Caesar scoffed. "Whatever."

Jazmine closed her eyes and rested her head on the back of the couch. She needed to think. Calm down and just _think_.

Huey sat down on the opposite side of Jazmine. Sensing the person was him, she rested her head on his shoulder. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he was next to her. Maybe she could actually, by the grace of God, win over Aunt Cookie and prove she's not just some hussy with her nephew.

"Mama!"

Jazmine awoke just in time to see Cindy immediately dropped whatever she was doing and followed the voice, where she was greeted by an eager two year old being held by Aunt Cookie.

"How was the park?" Cindy asked.

"Daddy pushed me on the swings and I went really high!" Brielle exclaimed.

Cindy gasped and smiled as she followed Aunt Cookie to the living room. "How high did he push you?"

Brielle thought about the question. "Like…" She reached as high as her tiny arms could. "This high!"

"That is pretty high," Cindy remarked while grabbing her out of Aunt Cookie's arms. "Alright Brie Cheese, you needa bath before dinner." She turned on her heel

Aunt Cookie's eyes locked on Jazmine for just a second before turning towards Huey. Jazmine glanced down to avoid her judgmental gaze.

"Um, actually Cin, I'm going to help you!" Jazmine chirped in an octave higher than her normal voice. Cindy stopped to look at her. Jazmine ignored the raised eyebrow from Huey and continued behind Cindy. "Please, I _insist_."

When they reached the bedroom, Jazmine heard Cindy sigh. "You gonna have to face her eventually," she finally said.

Jazmine pouted as she flopped onto the bed. "But I don't want to!" she whined. "It's _way_ easier to just be passive about this and just ignore the ever looming problem." Cindy grunted disapprovingly as pulled clothes from the bottom drawer. "Does she like you?"

Cindy scoffed. "I'm the girl who 'robbed Riley's innocence' away from him," she said with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Oh," Jazmine replied. "She doesn't like either of us, huh?"

Cindy shrugged in response. "She's entitled to her opinion, I guess." She shifted Brielle to the other side of her waist. "But you gotta stop thinking that Huey gonna love you less just because his aunt don't like you."

Jazmine pondered on the thought. Cindy was right; Huey loves her no matter what. Just because Aunt Cookie thought that she was a slut, he would think no less of her. Because he _loves_ her. Jazmine sat up on the bed. "Cindy, when did you get so deep?"

She smirked. "Yo, I should be a therapist or something. Make people pay me for fixing their problems," she laughed as she walked out of the room.

Jazmine lied back down on the bed and thought her brand-new approach on the situation.

* * *

Jazmine followed Cindy and a now clean Brielle out down the stairs and into the dining room where the table seemed to be almost set. Cindy put Brielle in her high chair in between her and Riley. Huey and Jazmine sat on the opposite side of them.

"Yo, do a couple of hungry teenagers get something to eat?" Caesar questioned, walking with Tia into the dining room.

"Why y'all Negroes always over here eating up my food?" Granddad muttered as he pushed Caesar and Tia out the way to get to his seat at the front of the table. "Don't y'all got your own houses? Go eat up their food!"

Tia smirked. "Come on, Mr. F, you know you love our company over here," she replied.

Granddad grunted in response. "Cutie Pie, you alright, but that boyfriend of yours eat more than a black hole! This ain't no damn soup kitchen. One day, Imma start charging y'all."

"Robert!" Aunt Cookie scolded as she sat the last plate down on the long table. "Any friends of Huey and Riley are welcome here," she said, smiling at Caesar and Tia. A quick glare was given in Jazmine's direction. Everyone was welcomed except her, it seems.

Aunt Cookie sat down in the last seat at the table, which happen to be in front of Jazmine. She gulped hard. She crossed her legs and kept her hands glued to her lap, no matter how close she was to Huey. She wanted for him to hold her hand like he did earlier, to remind her that everything was okay. But instead, she had to deal with his aunt, by herself, with no hope.

Great.

_Huey still loves me. Huey still loves me. Huey still loves me._

She kept the thought at the top of her mind. Aunt Cookie looked intimidating, that's for sure. Her judgment look sort of scared Jazmine off. But a quick glance to her left kept her in check.

_Huey still loves me. Huey still loves me. Huey still loves me._

Aunt Cookie stood up and slightly tapped her knife to her glass. "Hello, I'm Aunt Cookie, if you didn't know," she started. She looked at Huey. "To my first great-nephew to graduate from high school. I am so proud of you, Huey, and I hope you do well in life." She raised her glass.

"To Huey!" Everyone replied, causing Huey to put his face in his hand, hiding from embarrassment.

Jazmine looked down the row at Huey, Caesar, and Tia. "Hey, all of us graduated today; I just noticed that," she smiled.

Aunt Cookie looked surprised. "Oh! You were in the same grade as Huey?" she asked Jazmine, but looked at Huey. She nodded happily. "I thought you were much, much younger… like 15 or 16."

Jazmine faked a smile. How the fuck did she think she was 15? She definitely didn't look like this when she was that young, thanks to puberty and a refined fashion sense. "Nope, I'm actually only a couple of months younger then Huey."

"So," Aunt Cookie finally said, looking at the girl in front of her. "_Jazmine_." She said her name with so much bitterness that wondered if a Jazmine did something personal to her. "How do you know Huey?"

She cleared her throat. This was a question she could actually answer with confidence. "Oh, I live across the street," she smiled sweetly. "I've known him for eight years."

"How sweet," Aunt Cookie replied, although she didn't sound too sincere.

Jazmine's smile faltered and she looked down. Maybe she couldn't ever get through Aunt Cookie at all, even if Jazmine tried her damnedest. This lady was just _mean_, automatically judging her on really bad timing. Jazmine is one of the nicest girls in a fifty-mile radius and she didn't even get a chance to prove her wrong!

Jazmine huffed. Aunt Cookie was allowed to laugh and joke, but she had to sulk.

"Are you intimidated by me?"

Aunt Cookie's head turned towards her. "Excuse me?"

All eyes were on her, including a pair of maroon's, which were glaring at her trying to figure out where she was going with this. She didn't plan out it to come out so harsh, but oh well, it was already out. Go big or go home.

"I mean, you say you want to get to know me, but you only ask me one question that not even _relevant_ and then you just dismiss me," Jazmine answered. She let out a sigh. That kinda felt good.

Huey glared at her. "Jazmine… quit while you're ahead," he warned.

Aunt Cookie held up a hand. "No Huey… let the girl finish."

"Secondly, I have a name. It's Jazmine. Jazmine Bethany Dubois. I'm eighteen, I graduated with a 3.8 GPA, and I'm going to be a doctor. So I'm more than 'qualified', if that what you're assuming, to date your nephew," she continued. "And I've come to realize that whether or not you think I'm just some slut who's gonna ruin all of Huey's hopes and dreams, he's still going to love me either way." Aunt Cookie's jaw clenched together. Jazmine stood up from her spot and smiled. "And to answer the question you oh, so desperately wanted to ask: yes, I _am_ fucking your nephew. And yes, he loves every minute of it."

With the jaws collectively dropped around the room, Jazmine turned on her heels and went out the front door. Another exhale escaped her lips as she made her way to her house. Her smile was way too big and she couldn't stop giggling. Oh, she was going to have to tell people off more often.

"Jazmine!"

She didn't even make out of their driveway before he ran after her.

"What?" she replied, stopping in her tracks.

His footsteps got progressively closer. "The fuck you mean 'what'? What the hell was that?" he loudly inquired. She pouted slightly and shrugged. "Oh, don't do that bullshit with me; you know what you were doing."

"I was standing up for myself!" she defended. "You didn't see it, but she gave me glares and shit."

"So you assume it's okay to tell her off?"

Jazmine closed her mouth. She was pretty pissed that she wasn't even given a chance to talk, and even though it seemed like a great idea at the time, she was starting to feel bad about it.

"Was I right?" Jazmine asked. Huey raised an eyebrow at her. "Even if she didn't like me, you would still love me… right?"

He gave her knowing look. "Yeah, but that doesn't—"

"Ha!" she squealed. "I _was_ right! That means I'm off the hook," she informed him, smirking. She turned around and started walking back to her house.

He followed quickly behind her. "Unbelievable," Huey continued, shaking his head. "What did they teach you up in Virginia?"

"That I'm right."

She heard the audible sigh come from him. "You got sarcastic at boarding school," he announced. She smiled and grabbed his arm as they reached her front door. She buried her face into his shirt. "You're really touchy-feely today."

Jazmine pulled away from him and looked up. "I was at a school with nothing but girls for two years. The youngest guy there was sixty-five years old. What do you expect?"

She buried her face again and stayed there for a minute before Huey tapped her shoulder. "Tom is tapping on the window." She turned to look, and he was mouthing something Jazmine couldn't understand. She turned back and rolled her eyes. "I have to go back home anyways."

She huffed and pouted. "Fine." She puckered and stood on her toes to peck him on the lip quickly. "One more," she requested, repeating the action. "One more," she repeated, kissing him again. "One more."

"Jazmine," he said simply. She ignored him and wrapped her arms around his neck and left little pecks across his face. "Jazmine." he repeated sterner than before.

"I'm not finished!" she giggled.

He smirked and physically pulled her away from him. "Goodnight Jazmine," he said while walking away so she won't attack him again.

"Night Huey!" she yelled out to him. She unlocked her door and stepped inside her house. Her father waited in the living room, glaring at her. She rolled her eyes and went to the stairs. "Yes?" she asked, irritated.

"I thought that we agreed to make better choices, Jazmine," he said, following her.

She clenched her teeth together and sighed heavily. "I _am_ making better choices, father," she answered. "And I believe that kissing my boyfriend is good choice." She started up the stairs.

"I just don't want a repeat of—"

"Yes! I know!" she interrupted. "I realize that you don't want me to make the same mistakes that I did last time I lived at home, i.e. almost getting pregnant. I get it. Dad, even though you don't say it, I know what you're saying."

"I'm just looking—"

"Looking out for me," she finished for him. "I _know_. But I still have to live a normal life, okay? I got this!" she assured. He raised his hands and stepped back. "Okay." She continued up to her room, where she closed the door and flopped onto her bed. "I got this," she muttered into her comforter.

And for once, she actually believed it.


End file.
